The Formentera Department of Youth Services announces the April activities bill at the drop-in centre for young islanders. The programme kicks off with an all-new initiative, Xerrades en Línia (Online Lectures), with an inaugural 6 April edition focused on transgender visibility in a nod to Transgender Visibility Day (31 March). Presented by Chrysallis, the talks will take place on the 6th and 16th at 6.30pm and the 28th at 5.00pm and may be attended person-to-person at the Casal.

Next up, 7–10 April, youngsters can take part in Formentera Film Project. Borne of collaboration between Formentera Film and the Casal de Joves, FFP will find youth producing a video chronicle of classes on street dance. On Wednesday the 14th the centre will screen the documentary Madre Tierra and on Thursday the 15th youth can catch No t’ofeguis en l’alcohol (Don’t drown in alcohol), an exhibition on display until the 30th.

A skateboarding-themed “gymkhana”, or field day, will take shape outside the Casal on Wednesday 21 April; a top-secret craft project for the feast day of Sant Jordi on Friday the 23rd, and a blacklight demonstration on Saturday the 24th. Activities will continue on Thursday the 29th with a viewing party to fete World Dance Day. The April programme draws to a close on Friday the 30th, when youth are invited to come and help decorate the centre.

“Whether it’s an exhibition on alcohol use, a documentary about the environment or a lecture about transgender issues, education and awareness about other realities have always been key to programming at the Casal”, insisted department chief Vanessa Parellada, “The spotlight might be on dance; or maybe it’s an event that deals with crafts or science. Whatever the focus, we do our best to accommodate creativity in all shapes and sizes”, adding, “Naturally, it wouldn’t be April without a little something for Sant Jordi”.

6 April 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

The Formentera offices of infrastructure and youth services report that work has begun on a new park for children at the juncture of Sant Ferran arterials Carrer Guillem de Montgrí and Carrer Major. The €249,288 project is expected to take four months, with completion scheduled for late June.

Youth services and citizen participation chief Vanessa Parellada welcomed the news that the highly-anticipated play area would soon become a reality, saying, “This is something that kids across the island will be able to enjoy”. The councillor pointed out that the park had received funding after the Consell d’Entitats voted to back the idea as part of Formentera’s Participatory Spending initiative. The original idea came to the league of civic organisations by way of the Sant Ferran Association of Students’ Parents (APIMA), which also took part in the design. “Thanks are in order for all who took part and took time out for the community”, said Parellada.

The 295-square-metre park will include an astroturfed resting area; four freshly planted trees; a wooden platform, pergola and bench, and a play area with rubber flooring. The play area will feature play equipment, a swing set and seasaw. The park will be encircled with blocks of composite cement and a wooden gate and equipped with a drinking fountain and dustbin.

17 March 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

The Formentera Department of Youth Affairs has unveiled the run of activities it has lined up this March at the island’s youth drop-in centre. Chair of the equality and youth department Vanessa Parellada highlighted the programming surrounding International Women’s Day, 8 March. “We wanted this to serve as a reminder to young people that equality is something we have to fight for. Youth are vital to the struggle, because they represent both our present and our future”, she said.

The activities bill kicks off Wednesday 3 March with “Miss Escaparate”, a documentary that focuses on the absence of females in positions of power and questions the narrow and stigmatised image presented by the media. More in the same vein comes 6 March, when island youth are invited to take part in programming around the Vikingfader-made “mural of the woman” located outside the Casal.

Artistic activities
Also on the bill are artistic activities, like sticker-making 5 and 12 March, a spin art clinic on 10 March, and more spin art fun and freestyle creation with an “Evening of Art” on 13 March.

On 19 March there will be a callisthenics workshop.

On Saturday 20 March, young people can get the run-down on the Beni Trutmann photo contest and find out why they should take part in the smart-phone category.

Interested in online activities? Tune in 17 March for a series of tips about tailoring everyday routines for improved health. Then catch a virtual workshop on make-up 27 March.

And finally, online street dancing classes continue in March from Tuesday to Saturday, 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

3 March 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera

As Formentera enters Enhanced Tier 4 of public health alert, the Formentera Youth Department reports that activities at the Casal de Joves have been adapted to facilitate compliance with new rules. Staff at the currently open and operational youth drop-in spot came up with targeted protocol in June when the Casal reopened, and since that time visitors have upheld measures in line with the mandates of public health authorities.

With the activation of Tier 4 protocol, the building’s indoor and outdoor capacity was limited to six. That figure remains unchanged as Formentera toggles to the reinforced form of Tier 4, with preference given to outdoor activities and virtual programming. Online activities began under the name «Casal Viral» as stay-at-home orders were first enacted last year.

“Keeping the Casal open is more important than ever”, said FYD chair Vanessa Parellada. She pointed up the current ban on gatherings between individuals from different households and said the Casal was hardly different from schools in that it is a “safe, controlled environment where youth can participate in leisure activities while respecting safety measures”.

Activities
Every Wednesday, sometimes in person at the Casal and sometimes online with Casal Viral, youth can catch a film or documentary on wide-ranging topics like feminism or humour in the age of Covid. Next weekend there will be face-to-face workshops on painting and pottery. Masks, social distancing, hand-washing and common sense are all required.

What better occasion than Valentine’s Day to reflect on the importance of teenage love, friendships and affective-sexual relationships (not to mention, adds Parellada, to deconstruct the myth of romantic love)? The Casal’s Valentine’s Day programming takes place 13 February.

Other online activities this February include a contest where participants are encouraged to submit their finest sports-related snapshots, together with an afternoon of monologues. The Casal de Joves opens from 4.00pm to 9.00pm, Tuesday to Saturday. The closing time was brought forward at the start of Tier 4 orders to facilitate compliance with the curfew from 10.00pm to 6.00pm.

1 February 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera